DOCSLIB.ORG

Traditions of King Duncan I Benjamin T

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Traditions of King Duncan I Benjamin T Studies in Scottish Literature Volume 25 | Issue 1 Article 8 1990 From Senchus to histore: Traditions of King Duncan I Benjamin T. Hudson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Hudson, Benjamin T. (1990) "From Senchus to histore: Traditions of King Duncan I," Studies in Scottish Literature: Vol. 25: Iss. 1. Available at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol25/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you by the Scottish Literature Collections at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studies in Scottish Literature by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Benjamin T. Hudson From Senchus to histore: Traditions of King Duncan I The kings of Scotland prior to the reign of Malcolm III, popularly known as Malcolm Carunore (Malcolm "Bighead") have rarely been con­ sidered in connection with Scottish historical literature. Macbeth, largely due to Shakespeare's drama, has been the exception. For the medieval period alone, Nora Chadwick's examination of the Macbeth legend showed that a number of literary traditions, both native and foreign, can be detected in later medieval literature. 1 Macbeth was not alone in hav­ ing a variety of legends cluster about his memory; his historical and liter­ ary contemporary Duncan earned his share of legends too. This can be seen in a comparison of the accounts about Duncan preserved in historical literature, such as the Chroniea Gentis Seotorum of John of Fordun and the Original Chronicle of Scotland by Andrew of Wyntoun.2 Such a com- INora Chadwick, "The Story of Macbeth," Scottish Gaelic Studies (1949), 187-221; 7 (1951), 1-25. In my paper names have been given in their anglicized form whenever possi­ ble. 2Johannis de Fordun Chronica Gentis Scotorum, ed. W. F. Skene, Historians of Scot­ land (Edinburgh, 1871-2): Book IV, Chapter 44. Andrew of Wyntoun, The Orygna/e Chronykil of Scotland (from the creation to 1408), ed. David Laing, Historians of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1872-9), vols. II, III, IX; and The Original Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun, ed., F. J. Amours, Scottish Text Society (Edinburgh, 1903-14): Book VI, Chapter 16. In Traditions of King Duncan I 101 parison not only suggests some of the historical and literary memorials of early Scotland that were current in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but also gives some clue to interpretation and composition of those records. The historical writings of Fordun and Wyntoun reflect literary tradi­ tions of more than three hundred years. Modern distinctions between his­ tory and literature were not necessarily observed in medieval Scottish lit­ erature. The writings of Fordun, Wyntoun and their predecessors can best be understood if the historical record for Duncan is presented. While Fordun and Wyntoun were writing historical narrative, they were limited by the materials at their disposal. The first half of the eleventh century was a politically disturbed time among the Scots; the accounts of Fordun and Wyntoun reflect that confusion. Duncan, correctly Donnchad mac Crinain, reigned from 30 November 1035 to 16 August 1040.3 He came to the throne through the machina­ tions of his grandfather and immediate predecessor Malcolm II. Duncan was the son of Malcolm's daughter Bethoc and Crinan the hereditary ab­ bot of the Columban monastery at Dunkeld, a church that was virtually a royal chapel for two centuries. Malcolm was one of the most important of the early Scottish kings and the real architect of the medieval Scottish kingdom. During his reign the Scots annexed Lothian from the Hadding­ ton Tyne to the river Tweed and the ancient British kingdom of Strath­ clyde, the last of the independent British kingdoms north of Hadrian's Wall, was absorbed into the Scottish domain. More importantly, for this study, Malcolm was actively laboring to unite all the Scots under his rule. Since the Scottish migrations from Dal Riata into Pictavia, in the early ninth century, there had been two kingdoms of the Scots: one north of the Grampians and the other south. The northern kingdom was ruled by the dynasty of Cenel Loairn, of which Macbeth was a member, while the southern kingdom was ruled by the dynasty of Cenel nGabrain, the dynasty of Malcolm and Duncan; the two kingdoms were separated by the this paper reference to both Fordun and Wyntoun is by book and chapter; for Wyntoun this paper follows the edition of Amours and the divisions used by him for the earliest recen­ sion. >rhe best collection of materials concerning Duncan and his reign is in A. O. Ander­ son, Early Sources of Scottish History (Edinburgh, 1922) I, 576-83. Anderson is following the chronicle of Marianus Scotus in his assignment of dales for the death of Duncan; Mari­ anus gives two dates: August 14 and August 16; the latter is more likely to be correct. In fact the nativitas of Mary, the day of Duncan's death, was celebrated on August 16 by the Scotti rather than August 15 as in the Roman calendar; see Mtutyrology of Oengus, ed. W. Stokes (repr. Dublin, 1984), p. 176. 102 Benjamin T. Hudson river Dee.4 For generations the two dynasties had fought for overlordship of all the Scots; but they had not allowed their animosity to interfere with diplomacy, in the form of marriage. One branch of Celll!l nGabniin held lands in Fife.S In the first quarter of the eleventh century there was sent from the Fife family to Cen€! Loairn a princess named Gruoch, a distant cousin of Duncan, whose first husband was a cousin of Macbeth named Gilla Comgain. They produced a son named Lulach before Gilla Com­ gain was burned to death in 1033. The burning of Gilla Comgain leads to an unfortunate aspect of eleventh century Scottish history: civil war within both Cenel nGabrain and Cenel Loairn. Duncan's grandfather Malcolm II had taken the Cem!l nGabrain kingship in 1005 at the conclusion of a civil war that had plagued his dynasty since 961. Malcolm slew his cousin Kenneth III in 1005 and in 1033 Malcolm slew a prince of the Fife family, Gruoch's nephew. The murder of the Fife prince apparently was insurance that Duncan's claim to be king would not be challenged by someone whose fit­ ness to be king was equal to, or better than, his own.6 Among Cenel Loairn, a similar war was raging. Macbeth's father Findlaech was slain by his nephews in 1020; one of them, Malcolm mac Mael Brigti, succeeded him as king. On Malcolm's death in 1029, Mac­ beth succeeded to the kingship. When considering the murder of Gilla Comgain, another nephew of Findlaech and the brother of Malcolm mac Mael Brigti, suspicion must fallon Macbeth, a suspicion that becomes al­ most certain when Macbeth married Gilla Comgain's widow, apparently an effort to restore peace among the warring factions. Macbeth's grasp on the northern kingship appears to have been tenu­ ous. One indication is his marriage to Gruoch, an effort to reconcile the family that had slain his father. Another indication is that Macbeth ap­ parently submitted to Malcolm II and ruled his lands as Malcolm's subreg­ ulus. Malcolm II, for his part, was then the overlord of all the Scots, al­ though his immediate rule was limited to the lands south of the Grampians. Macbeth must have submitted soon after his accession to the 4See An Historical Geography of Scotland, c. 400-c. 1600, ed. P. MacNeill and R. Nicholson (St. Andrews, 1975), pp. 2().21. Sw. F. Skene, Celtic Scotland, An History of Ancient Alba, 2nd ed., (Edinburgh, 1886), III, 64. 6For the CencI nGabniin chi! war, see A A. M. Duncan, Scotland: the making of the kingdom, (Edinburgh, 1975), pp. 112-4; for Malcolm's machinations on Duncan's behalf see G. W. S. Barrow. Kingship and Unity, (London. 1981). pp. 26·7. Traditions ofKing Duncan I 103 Cenel Loairn kingship, if not before, as he was a member of Malcolm's party when Malcolm met the English king Cnut in 1031.7 Macbeth's sub­ mission would account for the description of Macbeth as Duncan's dux by the contemporary chronicler Marianus Scotus; in the eleventh century, dux had the meaning of subordinate ruler, as well as the meaning of military commander. The instability attending Macbeth's reign in the north was also present during Duncan's reign in the south. The murders Malcolm committed on Duncan's behalf had alienated a branch of his dynasty and appear to be an anticipation that Duncan's claims to the kingship, based on his mother's kinship to the royal dynasty, were likely to meet with opposition. In order to give Duncan an independent base of power, Malcolm set Duncan up as king over the newly acquired kingdom of Strathdyde, also known as Cum­ bria.8 To add support, Duncan married into the family of the Northum­ brian earl, Siward, who would later lead an invasion of Scotland on behalf of Malcolm Canmore.9 Duncan's brother, Maldred, also married into the Northumbrian aristocracy and his descendants would prosper on the Anglo-Scottish border. Although only three specific military events are known from Duncan's reign; it is clear that his reign was not successful. In the year 1038, the ter­ ritory of Strathclyde was raided by the Northumbrians. Duncan retaliated in 1040 by leading a raid against the Northumbrian cathedral town of Durham. His raid was a complete failure; the Scots were driven from Durham and Duncan retreated northwards.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Antiphonary of Bangor and Its Musical Implications
    The Antiphonary of Bangor and its Musical Implications by Helen Patterson A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto © Copyright by Helen Patterson 2013 The Antiphonary of Bangor and its Musical Implications Helen Patterson Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto 2013 Abstract This dissertation examines the hymns of the Antiphonary of Bangor (AB) (Antiphonarium Benchorense, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana C. 5 inf.) and considers its musical implications in medieval Ireland. Neither an antiphonary in the true sense, with chants and verses for the Office, nor a book with the complete texts for the liturgy, the AB is a unique Irish manuscript. Dated from the late seventh-century, the AB is a collection of Latin hymns, prayers and texts attributed to the monastic community of Bangor in Northern Ireland. Given the scarcity of information pertaining to music in early Ireland, the AB is invaluable for its literary insights. Studied by liturgical, medieval, and Celtic scholars, and acknowledged as one of the few surviving sources of the Irish church, the manuscript reflects the influence of the wider Christian world. The hymns in particular show that this form of poetical expression was significant in early Christian Ireland and have made a contribution to the corpus of Latin literature. Prompted by an earlier hypothesis that the AB was a type of choirbook, the chapters move from these texts to consider the monastery of Bangor and the cultural context from which the manuscript emerges. As the Irish peregrini are known to have had an impact on the continent, and the AB was recovered in ii Bobbio, Italy, it is important to recognize the hymns not only in terms of monastic development, but what they reveal about music.
    [Show full text]
  • The Later Posthumous Coinage of William the Lion
    SHORT ARTICLES AND NOTES 241 THE LATER POSTHUMOUS COINAGE OF WILLIAM THE LION IAN JONES AND KEITH SUGDEN Introduction ON 4 December 1214, at the age of seventy, William the Lion died at Stirling Castle, having been ill for some months. His son Alexander, a boy of sixteen, was inaugurated as King Alexander II of Scotland at Scone the following day, and only after a delay of a further four days was the old king buried at Arbroath. The haste to establish Alexander as king hints at the uncertainty in the succession: the principle of male primogeniture was still recent in Scotland, and William’s younger brother David, as well as the McWilliam family in the North, were potential rivals for the throne. It is all the more surprising, therefore, that coins in William’s name appear to have been issued for some twenty years after his death (though of course this parallels the situation in England, where neither Richard nor John felt the need to remove their father’s name from their coins). The Short Cross coinage issued by William the Lion commenced in 1195, and has been divided by Ian Stewart (Lord Stewartby) into five phases.1 In Stewart phase (a), coins identify- ing both moneyer and the mint of issue were struck by Hue at Edinburgh, by Walter at Perth and by Raul at Roxburgh. Phase (b) is a large series in the names of Hue, Walter, and Henri le Rus, but without mint names; at the end of phase (b) Hue is replaced by Adam. In phase (c), all struck at Roxburgh, Adam continued, but Walter is replaced by Peris, Aimer, and then Adam, the latter being joined in phases (d) and (e) (coins in the name of King Alexander II) by other moneyers.
    [Show full text]
  • Macbeth 1. in the Realm of King Duncan of Scotland Two Royal
    Macbeth 1. In the realm of King Duncan of Scotland two royal Thanes – Macbeth and Banquo - are returning from war. They meet three Witches who predict that Macbeth will become King and Banquo’s heirs will be Kings. 2. Macbeth writes to his wife telling her of the prediction, which she takes to mean they must kill Duncan, the current King. 3. Duncan and his train arrive at Macbeth’s Castle as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth wrangle over whether to kill him or not. 4. Macbeth kills Duncan as he sleeps. 5. Duncan’s sons are initially blamed for his murder and flee in fear, leaving Macbeth to be crowned King. 6. Macbeth has Banquo killed. He fears he is haunted by Banquo’s ghost and returns to the witches. They reassure him with more predictions of his power. 7. His friend Macduff flees to England to ask Duncan’s son – Malcolm – to return and fight Macbeth as Scotland is collapsing under his rule. Macbeth has Macduff’s wife and children killed for this disloyalty. 8. Lady Macbeth dies. 9. Macbeth comes under attack as the witches predictions come true one by one. 10. Macbeth is slain by Macduff and Malcolm is crowned King. Macbeth Character List DUNCAN The good king of Scotland murdered by Macbeth. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent and farsighted ruler. MALCOLM Duncan's eldest son, who flees in fear with his brother Donalbain after their father's murder. Malcolm becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff’s aid (and the support of England).
    [Show full text]
  • Scottish Society at the Time of William Wallace
    46 Scottish Society at the time of William Wallace That the Scots were identified as separate people by the late tenth and early eleventh century can be seen from the chronicles of Durham which record their passage and both successful and failed attempts at conquest. I Whether they were independent or vassal kings was not a matter of major significance at the time. Some of them looked to England for support. Malcolm Canmore in 1072 was forced to submit to William the Conqueror at Abernethy. This did not stop him raiding southwards later. His son Edgar said in a charter that he was king "by the grant of my lord, William, king of the English and by paternal inheritance"2 and he bore a sword at William Rufus's coronation. Henry I took to wife a Scottish princess. Later kings of Scotland took English queens. The Scottish kings did homage to the English for English lands such as the earldom of Huntingdon, but then the English kings did homage to the French for some of the lands they held in France.3 More interesting perhaps is the question 'What was Scotland in Wallace's time?' It was an area which lacked the cultural homogeneity of Ireland or Wales. The Islands and the West Coast were part of the Scandinavian kingdom down to 1100, spoke Norse and used Odal law. The kingdom ruled by the descendants of Kenneth MacApline (died c.858) who called themselves kings of the Scots, which had held sway over Gaels and Picts in the west, had by Wallace's time spread to the south and east which was 'English' speaking.
    [Show full text]
  • Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-16336-2 — Medieval Historical Writing Edited by Jennifer Jahner , Emily Steiner , Elizabeth M
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-16336-2 — Medieval Historical Writing Edited by Jennifer Jahner , Emily Steiner , Elizabeth M. Tyler Index More Information Index 1381 Rising. See Peasants’ Revolt Alcuin, 123, 159, 171 Alexander Minorita of Bremen, 66 Abbo of Fleury, 169 Alexander the Great (Alexander III), 123–4, Abbreviatio chronicarum (Matthew Paris), 230, 233 319, 324 Alfred of Beverley, Annales, 72, 73, 78 Abbreviationes chronicarum (Ralph de Alfred the Great, 105, 114, 151, 155, 159–60, 162–3, Diceto), 325 167, 171, 173, 174, 175, 176–7, 183, 190, 244, Abelard. See Peter Abelard 256, 307 Abingdon Apocalypse, 58 Allan, Alison, 98–9 Adam of Usk, 465, 467 Allen, Michael I., 56 Adam the Cellarer, 49 Alnwick, William, 205 Adomnán, Life of Columba, 301–2, 422 ‘Altitonantis’, 407–9 Ælfflæd, abbess of Whitby, 305 Ambrosius Aurelianus, 28, 33 Ælfric of Eynsham, 48, 152, 171, 180, 306, 423, Amis and Amiloun, 398 425, 426 Amphibalus, Saint, 325, 330 De oratione Moysi, 161 Amra Choluim Chille (Eulogy of St Lives of the Saints, 423 Columba), 287 Aelred of Rievaulx, 42–3, 47 An Dubhaltach Óg Mac Fhirbhisigh (Dudly De genealogia regum Anglorum, 325 Ferbisie or McCryushy), 291 Mirror of Charity, 42–3 anachronism, 418–19 Spiritual Friendship, 43 ancestral romances, 390, 391, 398 Aeneid (Virgil), 122 Andreas, 425 Æthelbald, 175, 178, 413 Andrew of Wyntoun, 230, 232, 237 Æthelred, 160, 163, 173, 182, 307, 311 Angevin England, 94, 390, 391, 392, 393 Æthelstan, 114, 148–9, 152, 162 Angles, 32, 103–4, 146, 304–5, 308, 315–16 Æthelthryth (Etheldrede),
    [Show full text]
  • THE MYTHOLOGY, TRADITIONS and HISTORY of Macdhubhsith
    THE MYTHOLOGY, TRADITIONS and HISTORY OF MacDHUBHSITH ― MacDUFFIE CLAN (McAfie, McDuffie, MacFie, MacPhee, Duffy, etc.) VOLUME 2 THE LANDS OF OUR FATHERS PART 2 Earle Douglas MacPhee (1894 - 1982) M.M., M.A., M.Educ., LL.D., D.U.C., D.C.L. Emeritus Dean University of British Columbia This 2009 electronic edition Volume 2 is a scan of the 1975 Volume VII. Dr. MacPhee created Volume VII when he added supplemental data and errata to the original 1792 Volume II. This electronic edition has been amended for the errata noted by Dr. MacPhee. - i - THE LIVES OF OUR FATHERS PREFACE TO VOLUME II In Volume I the author has established the surnames of most of our Clan and has proposed the sources of the peculiar name by which our Gaelic compatriots defined us. In this examination we have examined alternate progenitors of the family. Any reader of Scottish history realizes that Highlanders like to move and like to set up small groups of people in which they can become heads of families or chieftains. This was true in Colonsay and there were almost a dozen areas in Scotland where the clansman and his children regard one of these as 'home'. The writer has tried to define the nature of these homes, and to study their growth. It will take some years to organize comparative material and we have indicated in Chapter III the areas which should require research. In Chapter IV the writer has prepared a list of possible chiefs of the clan over a thousand years. The books on our Clan give very little information on these chiefs but the writer has recorded some probable comments on his chiefship.
    [Show full text]
  • The Culture of Literature and Language in Medieval and Renaissance Scotland
    The Culture of Literature and Language in Medieval and Renaissance Scotland 15th International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Literature and Language (ICMRSLL) University of Glasgow, Scotland, 25-28 July 2017 Draft list of speakers and abstracts Plenary Lectures: Prof. Alessandra Petrina (Università degli Studi di Padova), ‘From the Margins’ Prof. John J. McGavin (University of Southampton), ‘“Things Indifferent”? Performativity and Calderwood’s History of the Kirk’ Plenary Debate: ‘Literary Culture in Medieval and Renaissance Scotland: Perspectives and Patterns’ Speakers: Prof. Sally Mapstone (Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews) and Prof. Roger Mason (University of St Andrews and President of the Scottish History Society) Plenary abstracts: Prof. Alessandra Petrina: ‘From the margins’ Sixteenth-century Scottish literature suffers from the superimposition of a European periodization that sorts ill with its historical circumstances, and from the centripetal force of the neighbouring Tudor culture. Thus, in the perception of literary historians, it is often reduced to a marginal phenomenon, that draws its force solely from its powers of receptivity and imitation. Yet, as Philip Sidney writes in his Apology for Poetry, imitation can be transformed into creative appropriation: ‘the diligent imitators of Tully and Demosthenes (most worthy to be imitated) did not so much keep Nizolian paper-books of their figures and phrases, as by attentive translation (as it were) devour them whole, and made them wholly theirs’. The often lamented marginal position of Scottish early modern literature was also the key to its insatiable exploration of continental models and its development of forms that had long exhausted their vitality in Italy or France.
    [Show full text]
  • SCOTTISH TEXT SOCIETY Old Series
    SCOTTISH TEXT SOCIETY Old Series Skeat, W.W. ed., The kingis quiar: together with A ballad of good counsel: by King James I of Scotland, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 1 (1884) Small, J. ed., The poems of William Dunbar. Vol. I, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 2 (1883) Gregor, W. ed., Ane treatise callit The court of Venus, deuidit into four buikis. Newlie compylit be Iohne Rolland in Dalkeith, 1575, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 3 (1884) Small, J. ed., The poems of William Dunbar. Vol. II, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 4 (1893) Cody, E.G. ed., The historie of Scotland wrytten first in Latin by the most reuerend and worthy Jhone Leslie, Bishop of Rosse, and translated in Scottish by Father James Dalrymple, religious in the Scottis Cloister of Regensburg, the zeare of God, 1596. Vol. I, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 5 (1888) Moir, J. ed., The actis and deisis of the illustere and vailzeand campioun Schir William Wallace, knicht of Ellerslie. By Henry the Minstrel, commonly known ad Blind Harry. Vol. I, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 6 (1889) Moir, J. ed., The actis and deisis of the illustere and vailzeand campioun Schir William Wallace, knicht of Ellerslie. By Henry the Minstrel, commonly known ad Blind Harry. Vol. II, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 7 (1889) McNeill, G.P. ed., Sir Tristrem, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 8 (1886) Cranstoun, J. ed., The Poems of Alexander Montgomerie. Vol. I, Scottish Text Society, Old Series, 9 (1887) Cranstoun, J. ed., The Poems of Alexander Montgomerie. Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Gavin Douglas's Aeneados: Caxton's English and 'Our Scottis Langage' Jacquelyn Hendricks Santa Clara University
    Studies in Scottish Literature Volume 43 | Issue 2 Article 21 12-15-2017 Gavin Douglas's Aeneados: Caxton's English and 'Our Scottis Langage' Jacquelyn Hendricks Santa Clara University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, and the Other Classics Commons Recommended Citation Hendricks, Jacquelyn (2017) "Gavin Douglas's Aeneados: Caxton's English and 'Our Scottis Langage'," Studies in Scottish Literature: Vol. 43: Iss. 2, 220–236. Available at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol43/iss2/21 This Article is brought to you by the Scottish Literature Collections at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studies in Scottish Literature by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GAVIN DOUGLAS’S AENEADOS: CAXTON’S ENGLISH AND "OUR SCOTTIS LANGAGE" Jacquelyn Hendricks In his 1513 translation of Virgil’s Aeneid, titled Eneados, Gavin Douglas begins with a prologue in which he explicitly attacks William Caxton’s 1490 Eneydos. Douglas exclaims that Caxton’s work has “na thing ado” with Virgil’s poem, but rather Caxton “schamefully that story dyd pervert” (I Prologue 142-145).1 Many scholars have discussed Douglas’s reaction to Caxton via the text’s relationship to the rapidly spreading humanist movement and its significance as the first vernacular version of Virgil’s celebrated epic available to Scottish and English readers that was translated directly from the original Latin.2 This attack on Caxton has been viewed by 1 All Gavin Douglas quotations and parentheical citations (section and line number) are from D.F.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Kingdom of Strathclyde from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
    Kingdom of Strathclyde From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Strathclyde (lit. "Strath of the Clyde"), originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the Kingdom of Strathclyde Celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Teyrnas Ystrad Clut Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the ← 5th century–11th → post-Roman period. It is also known as Alt Clut, the Brythonic century name for Dumbarton Rock, the medieval capital of the region. It may have had its origins with the Damnonii people of Ptolemy's Geographia. The language of Strathclyde, and that of the Britons in surrounding areas under non-native rulership, is known as Cumbric, a dialect or language closely related to Old Welsh. Place-name and archaeological evidence points to some settlement by Norse or Norse–Gaels in the Viking Age, although to a lesser degree than in neighbouring Galloway. A small number of Anglian place-names show some limited settlement by incomers from Northumbria prior to the Norse settlement. Due to the series of language changes in the area, it is not possible to say whether any Goidelic settlement took place before Gaelic was introduced in the High Middle Ages. After the sack of Dumbarton Rock by a Viking army from Dublin in 870, the name Strathclyde comes into use, perhaps reflecting a move of the centre of the kingdom to Govan. In the same period, it was also referred to as Cumbria, and its inhabitants as Cumbrians. During the High Middle Ages, the area was conquered by the Kingdom of Alba, becoming part of The core of Strathclyde is the strath of the River Clyde.
    [Show full text]
  • Forteviot Cemetery Cropmarks Taken in 1975 (© RCAHMS)
    Forteviot, Perthshire: Excavations of a Barrow and Unenclosed Grave Cemetery 2007 Data Structure Report by Tessa Poller Forteviot: Excavations of a Barrow and Unenclosed Grave Cemetery 2007 Table of Contents Summary 2 2 Introduction Results 3 Subsoil and Possible Pre-cemetery Features 3 Cemetery Features 3 i) Square Barrow Ditches 4 ii) Barrow 1 Internal Features 7 iii) Other Features within Barrow 1 9 iv) Barrow 2 Internal Features 11 v) Unenclosed Graves 12 More Recent Cultivation and Other Features 15 Discussion 16 Pre-cemetery Features 16 Cemetery 16 i) Square Barrows 16 ii) Unenclosed Graves and Their 17 Relationship to the Square Barrows iii) Burials 18 Destruction of the Barrows/Cemetery 19 Conclusion 19 References 19 Acknowledgements 20 Appendices 21 i) Contexts 21 ii) Small Finds 25 iii) Drawings 27 iv) Samples 29 v) Photos 32 - 1 - Forteviot: Excavations of a Barrow and Unenclosed Grave Cemetery 2007 Summary An excavation over cropmarks at Forteviot revealed ten unenclosed graves and two conjoined square barrows, with each barrow containing a central grave surrounded by four corner post- holes. All of the graves were dug graves and from some of these only very scant and poorly preserved skeletal remains were recovered. All of the archaeological features had been heavily truncated due to many years of ploughing in this agriculturally rich area. Introduction As part of the University of Glasgow Archaeology Department’s Strathearn Environs and Royal Forteviot (SERF) project a barrow cemetery immediately to the south of Forteviot village, previously revealed in aerial photographs, was investigated. The excavation took place between September 12th and the 22nd, 2007 and was undertaken by small team of undergraduate students of the University of Glasgow, supervised by professional archaeologists.
    [Show full text]
  • Macbeth in World Cinema: Selected Film and Tv Adaptations
    International Journal of English and Literature (IJEL) ISSN 2249-6912 Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, 179-188 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. MACBETH IN WORLD CINEMA: SELECTED FILM AND TV ADAPTATIONS RITU MOHAN 1 & MAHESH KUMAR ARORA 2 1Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Management and Humanities, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Punjab, India 2Associate Professor, Department of Management and Humanities, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Punjab, India ABSTRACT In the rich history of Shakespearean translation/transcreation/appropriation in world, Macbeth occupies an important place. Macbeth has found a long and productive life on Celluloid. The themes of this Bard’s play work in almost any genre, in any decade of any generation, and will continue to find their home on stage, in film, literature, and beyond. Macbeth can well be said to be one of Shakespeare’s most performed play and has enchanted theatre personalities and film makers. Much like other Shakespearean works, it holds within itself the most valuable quality of timelessness and volatility because of which the play can be reproduced in any regional background and also in any period of time. More than the localization of plot and character, it is in the cinematic visualization of Shakespeare’s imagery that a creative coalescence of the Shakespearean, along with the ‘local’ occurs. The present paper seeks to offer some notable (it is too difficult to document and discuss all) adaptations of Macbeth . The focus would be to provide introductory information- name of the film, country, language, year of release, the director, star-cast and the critical reception of the adaptation among audiences.
    [Show full text]